


Beth & Byleth: The Ashen Demons

by CitrusSP



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chapter 4 and onward is where things will pick up, Chapters 1-3 are introductory chapters, F/F, F/M, Female My Unit | Byleth, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Male My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth Twins, Redemption, Sothis with a body AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23749948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrusSP/pseuds/CitrusSP
Summary: The Ashen Demons, Beth and Byleth, are now starting their lives as teachers in Garreg Mach Monastery. They’ll make new allies, like Sothis, who now has a physical manifestation, Bernadetta, and more. But unbeknownst to them, a new danger threatens Fódlan, more specifically the church. Will the Ashen Demons, along with their new allies, save all of Fódlan?
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril, My Unit | Byleth & Bernadetta von Varley, My Unit | Byleth & My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Sothis, My Unit | Byleth/Bernadetta von Varley, My Unit | Female Byleth/Sothis, One sided Edelgard/Byleth, Sothis & Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 13
Kudos: 62





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So, ladies and gentlemen, here we are! Hope y'all are doing fine in this epidemic.  
> After making two chapters in 'A Whole Bunch of Ships', we're finally here!  
> I love Three Houses a lot. It got me into the Fire Emblem series. Hell, I was excited when Byleth was announced for Smash.  
> Anyways, I wanted to throw my hat in in the Twin AU. So, here we are. Hope y'all enjoy!

_ “Wake…up…” _

_ “Beth, Wake up…” _

Beth turned around in bed, mumbling something. She felt like she was being pushed and was telling whoever was pushing her slightly to stop. She was then pushed off the bed, landing on the hard, wood floor.

“What the hell was that for!?” Beth said, face and voice seeping with anger.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for a few minutes. It’s time to move.” Byleth replied, face still expressionless.

Beth got back up quickly.

“Sorry, I was-"

"Having that dream with the kid? Again?"

“She's not a kid."

Byleth sighed. "Well, whatever. I don't know why you have these 'dreams'. Are you okay?"

Before Beth commented on that, their father, Jeralt Eisner, walked in.

"Are you two done chit-chatting? We got some work to do."

"Sorry Father. Beth was having that dream again."

"With the kid?"

"She's not a kid."

"Well, whatever. Well, it doesn't matter now. Our next job is in the Kingdom, which is far away, so we'll have to leave now."

"Wait, what? Oh, right..." Beth yawned.

Byleth facepalmed.

"Oh good grief. Everyone is already waiting outside."

Then, in a rush, a mercenary ran into the house. As Beth slightly jumped in surprise, Byleth and Jeralt waited for him to talk.

"Jeralt! Sir! Sorry to barge in, but your presence is needed."

"What happened?" Jeralt asked.

As Jeralt and the mercenary ran out, Beth and Byleth looked at each other before grabbing their weapons and following them.

When the twins caught up to their father, there were three individuals, one was wearing black and blue and had blonde hair, one was wearing black and yellow, had brown skin and had dark brown hair, and the last one had snow white hair and wore red and black.

“Please forgive our intrusion. We wouldn't bother you, were the situation not dire." The one in blue said.

"What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?" Jeralt asked.

"We're being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to send your support." The blue one continued.

The Twins and their father raised their eyes in surprise.

"Bandits? Here?" Beth asked.

"It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest at our camp." The one in red added.

"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives… not to mention, our gold." The one in yellow said.

"I'm impressed you're staying calm considering the situation. I… Wait. That uniform."

The Twins looked at each other, confused. Byleth looked at Beth with a questioning look, Beth shrugging in response. Before the twins could ask, a mercenary was running up to them.

"Bandits spotted outside the village! Damn… There are a lot of them."

"I guess they followed you all the way here. We can't abandon this village now." Jeralt turned his head. "Come on you two, let's move. Hope you're ready."

"Ready for action, Father!" Beth said, tightening her grip on her lance.

"You  _ really _ need to calm down about this." Byleth calmly said, grabbing his sword and preparing himself for the battle.

They ran down to the village as fast as they could, Jeralt riding his horse.

As they arrived, they came face-to-face with a handful of bandits. Not terribly a whole lot, but still something they shouldn't underestimate.

As one bandit charged at them, the one in yellow prepped his bow and arrow and shot. It hit a direct headshot, making the bandit fall instantly.

"Not bad." Beth said.

"I got a lot more where that's coming from." He replied.

"Don't get distracted, you two." Byleth said, running past the two, everyone else following.

"You're brother… seems really strict."

"He's like that a lot… but he's really cool once you know him more." Beth said.

"Beth Eisner." She held out her hand.

"Claude von Riegan. Eager to know more about you." He replied, shaking her hand.

"Likewise." Beth smiled.

"Beth!" Byleth yelled.

"Coming!" Beth said, sprinting to him.

"Those two seem interesting… how can she run that fast in high heels?" Claude thought before shaking his head and following the two.

Byleth was slicing some bandits left and right, like they were thin pieces of paper. As one bandit snuck up to him, and as Byleth turned around to deal with him, an arrow went through his chest and a lance went right through his face. As he fell down, Beth grabbed her lance, the bandit's body sliding off of it.

"Glad to see you two are getting friendly in battle."

"Sorry…"

As a bandit charged behind Beth, she performed a backflip and kicked the bandit hard in the head, knocking him out instantly.

Byleth sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry if I came off as too aggressive."

"It's fine. You're right, I shouldn't get myself distracted."

The student in blue was a mass murdering machine. He used both his lance and brute strength to take down a plethora of bandits.

"Ooh, he's good."

“That’s Dimitri, house leader of the Blue Lions. He resides in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.” Claude said.

The one in red looked like she was about to throw a hatchet at Beth… because she was.

"Watch out!" She said, throwing the hatchet.

Beth panicked for a second before dodging the hatchet, killing the bandit behind Beth.

"Thanks!" Beth called out.

"It's nothing." She replied before grabbing her axe and running towards a bandit.

“That’s Edelgard, Leader of the Black Eagles. She’s a Princess from the Adrestian Empire. Looks like those two need my assistance. I’ll catch up to you two later.”

As Claude ran to help the others, Beth and Byleth ran towards who appeared to be the bandits' leader, before they were surrounded by a lot of bandits.

"Damn! Why are there mercenaries in the village?! Guess we'll have to deal with them too."

The bandits surrounding the Ashen Demons cheered.

"Ready for 'The Super Lance Kick Combo'?" Beth whispered.

"You said you'd stop calling it that…" Byleth whispered in response.

"I'll take that as a yes." Beth said, taking out her lance, while Byleth sheathed his sword.

As the bandits charged at them, Beth ran towards them, turned around to face Byleth, pointing her lance towards him.

"Now!" Beth called out.

Byleth grabbed the lance, as Beth used all her strength to start spinning around, taking Byleth along with. Byleth kicked multiple bandits in the face, hard enough to knock them out. As there was one more bandit, Byleth timed it.

"Now!" He called out.

Beth let go of the lance and stopped spinning. Byleth then not only landed on the goon, he also stabbed him with the lance.

As Beth dizzily walked over to her brother, he threw her lance back.

"Nice to see 'The Super Lance Kick Combo' worked out." Byleth said.

"Yep!… wait. Did you call it by its name?!?" Beth said, surprised.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Byleth said.

Damn his expressionless face.

The three students ran up to the twins.

"That was impressive. How? How did you learn how to do it?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh, I just had an idea for it while we were training and after a bit, we started to finally get it right." Beth replied.

"Interesting… that move seems very useful for when enemies surround you." Edelgard said.

"Not to mention, it looks very stylish. It still surprises me that you can take his weight." Claude said.

"Looks can be deceiving!" Beth said, flexing a bit, making a pose.

Byleth facepalmed.

While they were distracted, they didn't notice the bandits' leader attacking from a nearby bush. As Beth and Byleth turned around, the leader was already in the middle of an attack towards Beth. Just as the blade almost touched Beth's face, however, it seemed as though time had stopped and every color was inverted. Then… nothingness. It was a pitch black room with green specks flying about.

"I- I'm here again… but why? How?"

"Uh, Beth?" 

Beth turned to see her brother.

"Byleth?! How are you here?"

"I don’t know. Where are we?”

"Honestly!!! What were you accomplishing with that little stunt?!?!"

The two jumped at the sudden outburst. They turned to the voice. There sat on a stone throne, who appeared to be a young girl with long, messy, green hair. She had strings of red and white on her wrists as well as her braids. She was wearing some sort of regalia as well.

"To show off how "strong" you are? It's like you're trying to get me killed, you fools!"

The girl's face of anger then relaxed as she sighed.

"Well, it's fine. After all, if you don't know the value of your own lives, you two aren't going to protect it well, are you? Course not."

As the girl started to giggle, Byleth looked confused as hell. Beth was scratching the back of her head nervously.

The girl got up and clapped her hands together. "Well then. I guess it's up to me to guide you two from now on. Right?"

For Byleth, this wasn't helping at all. The girl looked like she noticed his confusion.

She smiled. "You can call me Sothis… but I'm also known as 'the Beginning'."

…that lasted a few seconds before she started doubting herself. She looked like she was in heavy thought.

"Hmm…"

As Byleth was going to walk towards, Beth stopped him, shaking her head.

"Sothis… Yes, that is it. My name is Sothis. And I'm also called 'the Beginning.' But who once called me that?"

Beth decided to ask. "What are you talking about?"

Sothis broke out of her thoughts to reply. "I was not able to recall my name… until just now. And just like that," she snapped, "it came to me. How odd."

She looked towards Byleth.

"That look upon your face… Do you think I am a child?!?! A mere child that forgot her own name?!"

"That's the vibe I'm getting, yes." He replied.

Beth cringed, Byleth looking at her weirdly.

Before he remembered the conversation they had earlier.

_ "Having that dream with the kid? Again?" _

_ “She's not a kid." _

_ "Well, whatever." _

"Phooey! That "child" just saved you  _ and _ your sister's life! So, what would that make you?"

"Well, I'm no child, that's for sure." Byleth said, crossing his arms.

Sothis gasped. "The nerve! You! Beth, is it? You seem more ahead of this than your brother. What would that make you two?"

"Less than a child?"

"Correct! At least  _ someone _ understands. Hell, you tried to show-boat to make yourself look very strong."

Beth, again, scratched the back of her head nervously. “Sorry…”

Sothis saw this and decided to tone it down a little.

"It’s okay. All is well anyways, as I stalled the flow of time for now. Now, we can come up with a plan to help ourselves out of this situation."

"Thank you so much." Beth said, even bowing.

"There now. Is gratitude so much to ask? I did deem you worth saving, after all." Sothis slightly blushed.

Byleth grumbled.

"Though it is only momentary, time has stopped. However did I manage that…" Sothis asked herself too loudly.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what will happen when time resumes?" Byleth asked.

"When time begins again, the axe will tear into your sister's face, and she will surely meet her end."

"I'll die?!" She panicked.

"Now what to do…" Sothis thought.

"I-is there any way you can turn back time?" Beth asked, nervously.

Sothis's eyes widened. "Of course! I must turn back the hands of time!"

Then, a weird circle with multiple crests appeared, with one very weird one in the middle.

"Yes… I do believe it can be done. I can't turn back time too far, but I can take you back to before the bandit leader jumped out of the bush. Now, you two are aware of what's to come, which means you can protect yourselves this time.”

The Twins nodded. 

Sothis chuckled. “You two really are troublesome.”

As the circle started spinning and glowing, Sothis had one last thing to say.

“Now go… Yes, you two who bear the flames within. Drift through the flow of time to find the answers that you seek…"

As the two were brought back in time, Beth found herself posing again. She looked at Byleth and nodded. Once the Bandit leader jumped out, she kicked him in the abdomen so hard, he went flying.

The three students eyes' widened in surprise.

"Damn, you weren't kidding." Claude said.

"H-huh? But, I just saw you about to-"

Before Edelgard finished her thought, Jeralt rode his horse over to the five. "Hey… not bad you two."

Then, three men arrived at the scene. The one with brown hair and big silver armor yelled, "The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students." As a few alive bandits tried to flee, one of the soldiers shot them down with a bow and the other threw his lance and hit them directly in their leg.

"I don't know about you, but I don't know what's happening." Beth whispered to Byleth.

"You're not alone there. But they're making our job easier."

"True."

The one in big armor walked over to the six.

"The students seem to be unharmed. And… Captain Jeralt?! Is that you?"

"Ugh… why him?" Jeralt whispered.

"It is you! Goodness, it's been ages. Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It must have been 20 years ago that you went missing without a trace. I always thought you were still alive!"

'Missing?' Beth thought.

'Captain?' Byleth thought.

"You haven't changed a bit, Alois. Just as loud as ever. And drop that "Captain" nonsense. I'm not your Captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Good-bye, old friend."

"Right… good-bye, Captain."

As Jeralt turned around, Alois spoke up. "Wait, this isn't how this ends!"

Jeralt groaned.

"I insist that you return to the monastery with me!"

"Garreg Mach Monastery… I suppose this was inevitable." Jeralt sighed.

Alois turned to the Twins. "How about you two? Are you the captain's children?"

"No, we're bandits." Beth replied, jokingly.

Alois laughed. "Great sense of humor, this one. Clearly cut from the same cloth as the captain. I'd love for you two to see the monastery as well! You will join me, won't you?"

"I am interested… I will!" Beth replied.

Jeralt and Byleth sighed.

"What's troubling you, Captain? You aren't about to run off again, are you?"

"Even I wouldn't dare run from the Knights of Seiros." Jeralt said, before following Alois.

Beth smiled. "I like him."

She turned to Byleth, to see him giving her a cold stare.

"What?"

**"The Knights of Seiros… They do seem rather skilled."**

Beth and Byleth looked at each other, surprised.

"Sothis? Is that you?" Beth asked.

**"Yep!"**

"Oh, great. Now I gotta hear her all the time now." Byleth complained.

Sothis decided to ignore that. " **Ah. It seems both of your presences are required. Chop, chop, get going.** "

Beth walked off, leaving Byleth.

He facepalmed. "What has my life become? Being talked around by a child…" Byleth said, following Beth.


	2. Introductions Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ashen Demons learn more about the Monastery, the Church, as well as the Three Houses. Well, Byleth does at least.

The Knights of Seiros and Jeralt walked in front of the three house leaders and twin mercenaries. Beth couldn't hear much, but she did see her father's mouth moving towards the Knights.

"This will be your first time at the monastery." Beth and Byleth turned to Dimitri. "I'd be happy to show you two around."

"It really is Fódlan in a nutshell." Claude smiled. "The good… and the bad."

"Like it or not, we'll be there soon enough." Edelgard said. As Beth looked at Edelgard, she saw nothing on her face, unlike Dimitri or Claude.

" **Hmm… that girl seems… very strict, to say the least.** " Sothis said.

'Tell me about it. But I feel like she'd be more open once we get to know her.' Beth thought.

She looked to see Byleth's reaction to what Sothis said, only to see him looking forward.

" **It's no use. I'm only talking to you right now.** "

'So, you can talk to both of us at the same time  _ and _ only one of us at a time?’

" **Someone's catching on quickly.** "

"Amazing."

As the three house leaders and Byleth looked at her, she realized she spoke that one out loud.

"Oh, sorry, just thought of something out loud."

Byleth looked like he didn't buy it. But the house leaders did.

"Guess someone's excited." Claude said.

As they continued on, Sothis sighed.

" **You are so careless, aren't you?** "

After a while, they saw a big place in the distance. Beth gasped and Byleth's eyes widened a bit.

"There it is… Garreg Mach Monastery." Edelgard said.

"Holy shit… that place is huge." Beth said in amazement.

"Just wait until you get there. The place is like a maze sometimes." Claude said.

As they entered the monastery, the house leaders bid the twins farewell. After following the Knights for a bit, Jeralt stopped and looked up.

"Rhea's here…"

Beth and Byleth looked up to see a woman watching over them. They could see that her hair was a pale, light green, but other details couldn't be seen at the moment.

As they continued on, Rhea pondered to herself.

'I wonder… did the flow of time bring you two here?'

* * *

As the Eisners walked into a room, Jeralt sighed.

"It's been years since I've last set eyes on this place. To be forced to see her now…"

"You've been here before?" Beth asked.

"I've never spoken of this to either of you, but… many years ago, I was a knight here. I reported to the archbishop… Lady Rhea."

"Lady Rhea?" Both the twins asked.

"As you both know, the majority of folks in Fódlan are devout followers of the teachings of Seiros. The leader of that  _ ridiculously  _ large religious organization is the archbishop, Lady Rhea."

Both of the twins noticed his spike on his wording halfway through, but decided not to question it for now.

Good thing too, as there were two people walking in. One who looked to be Lady Rhea, and a man in dark green hair who was behind her.

"Thank you for your patience, Jeralt. My name is Seteth. I am an advisor to the archbishop." The man said.

"Right. Hello." 

"It has been a long time, Jeralt. I wonder… was it the will of the goddess that we have another chance meeting like this?"

Sothis chuckled.

" **Wow, she sure seems to love this 'goddess' of theirs…** "

"Forgive my silence all these years. Much has happened since we last spoke." Jeralt said, bowing.

Rhea looked to the twins. "So I see. The miracle of fatherhood has blessed you. Those are your children, are they not?"

"Yes… Born many years after I left this place. I wish I could introduce you to the mother of them...but I'm afraid we lost her to illness."

"I see… My condolences. As for you two… I heard about your valiant efforts from Alois. What are your names?"

"I am Byleth Eisner."

"And I'm Beth Eisner."

Both of them bowed to her.

"Fine names indeed. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you both for saving those students of the Officers Academy."

Beth smiled and Byleth nodded.

"Hmph." Jeralt said.

"Jeralt. You already know what it is I wish to say, do you not?"

"You want me to rejoin the Knights of Seiros, don't you. I won't say no, but…"

"Your apprehension stings. I had expected that Alois would have already asked this of you. I must step away for now, but, I expect they will desire a word with you soon. And please listen carefully to what they have to say. Until tomorrow… Farewell."

As Lady Rhea and Seteth walked away, Jeralt sighed.

"I can't believe it… Forced back into the Knights of Seiros… I'm sorry to drag you two into this. Looks like I'll be stuck here for a while… and I'm afraid your services are requested as well."

"As a mercenary?" Byleth asked.

"Or as a servant?" Beth continued.

"No, neither of those. By the sound of it, they want you two to teach here. I don't remember how many they need, but it's at least one. Apparently, that damned Alois went and recommended you two to Lady Rhea."

The two people walked in. One looked way older than the other.

"So. You must be the new professor. My, how Stern and handsome you are!"

" **More people? Ugh, it's like you three are the main attraction now…** "

"Er, no. I'm not the one you're looking for. You two can handle things from here. Good luck."

As Jeralt turned, he whispered to them.

_ "And _ … watch out for Lady Rhea. I don't know what she's thinking, making you two professors like this. She may be up to something. Stay on your guard."

With that, Jeralt walked out of the room.

"Oh, it's you two then? So young…"

"Competence and age are not necessarily correlated, as you well know."

The older man turned to the twins and greeted them.

"My name is Hanneman, a Crest scholar and professor at the Officers Academy. I wonder if both of you bear Crests of your own. When next you have a moment to spare, I insist that you pay me a visit so we can delve into the subject further."

"I'm Manuela. I'm a professor, a physician, a songstress," she looked towards Byleth, "and available. It's nice to meet you."

As Beth and Manuela looked to see a reaction, Byleth just looked the same as he always does.

" **Well, I'll give him** **_some_ ** **credit. He doesn't seem to be charmed by her.** "

Beth cleared her throat.

"So, you're a physician?"

Manuela lightly laughed. "I look too pretty for that line of work, do I? But yes, when I'm not teaching, I can be found in the infirmary." She looked to Byleth again. "If you're ever lonely, please do come and pay me a visit. I would love to-"

"Spare our colleagues the needless chatter, Manuela. Now then, it seems you two will be taking charge of one of the Academy's three houses. I expect you two haven't been debriefed on the nature of each, have you?"

"Do you two really not know? Fine, I'll do you a favor and explain. The Officers Academy is split into-"

This is when Beth started to completely zone out.

'So… Sothis… what do you think so far?'

" **Shouldn't you be paying attention?** "

'Yeah, but I already have a plan.'

" **And that is?** "

'They seem to have one slot open for a professor. That doesn't mean I can't be an assistant professor. Byleth is way more suited for the main professor role.'

" **Hm… I guess that could work. But what if they have two?** "

'Well, I'll still be his assistant. He and I made a promise very long ago. That we would be in anything together.'

" **You two sure are something. But I like that. And to answer your question from earlier… I think this will be very… intriguing, to say the least.** **What about you?** "

'I… don't know. This is going too fast for me. But… as long as I have my brother and you by my side, I feel like everything will be fine.'

**"You don't need to get so sappy now…** "

Her tone sounded like she was scolding her.

But Beth can tell she was blushing a little bit.

* * *

As the twins walked around to greet some students (suggested by Rhea), Byleth talked to Beth.

"I'm assuming that you didn't pay attention to Hanneman and Manuela."

"Whaatt? No, I totally paid attention."

"What did they say about the Adrestrian Empire, then?"

".... okay, you got me."

"Beth…"

"Can you blame me? I was tired from last night and it got so boring."

Byleth sighed.

"Anyways, what are you going to do?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm just gonna follow you."

"What do you mean?"

"Whichever house you're picking. I'll be your assistant. Think about it. You're a professional with swords and axes. I use lances and bows. And we both know brawling skills. It's perfect."

"What about magic, flight, and horse riding?"

"We can teach them the basic healing spell. We'll figure the rest out."

Byleth contemplated hard about this one.

"...fine."

"Yes! You can count on me."

"Are you sure I can?"

Beth gasped.

"I'm just playing with you."

Then, Byleth smiled a bit. That made Beth smile too.

"Hey, by the way, how were you able to not pay attention for that-"

Before he finished asking, he bumped into a student with messy purple hair, making her spill her books.

"Oh my gosh, I am  _ so  _ sorry!"

As she scrambled to pick up some of her books, she kept muttering to herself really quickly. Neither twin couldn't understand everything but they heard something about "unmarriageable" or something.

Byleth picked up two books and gave them to her.

Her entire face was as red as fire. None of the twins knew that was possible, but here they were. Byleth didn't seem to mind, however.

"T-thank you…"

"No problem." Byleth said with a smile.

As he walked off, Beth was amazed. He usually smiled with or at her, but this was new. She snapped out of it before running towards her brother.

The purple-haired student just looked at them before dashing back to her room.

'Those two… are they new here?' she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After realizing that for the first few chapters, it’s almost exactly from the game and that I introduced Bernadetta pretty early and that Sothis is going to have a bigger role here, I’m now nicknaming this fic “Fire Emblem: Three Houses: The Royal.”


	3. Introductions Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ashen Demons choose the Golden Deer house and they check in with Hanneman. And a certain cute purple haired recluse makes an appearance again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2nd Year Anniversary!  
> I can’t believe it’s been two years already. Anyways, as a gift, I’ll not only update this fic, but I’ll also update the Umaru and Kirie, Early Friends, and Skullgirls fics today as well! Enjoy!

After the twins walked around the entire monastery, talking to the house leaders and soon other students, they walked back to the audience chamber. It seemed as though Rhea, Seteth, Manuela, and Hanneman were waiting for the two.

"How are you enjoying your time at the academy so far? I hope you have found our halls brimming with the vitality of well-intentioned souls." Rhea said.

"Hm. I suppose it is time for you two to take charge of one of our three houses of students." Seteth said, arms crossed.

" **He doesn't seem like the type of person to trust anyone that easily.** " Sothis said in Beth's head.

"I must note that I am personally against entrusting someone as lacking in trackable history as you two with such a task, but it is as the archbishop desires."

'I mean he really does have a point. We just came out of nowhere and are already becoming professors.' Beth thought.

"The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer… All so different. I hope you two made it a point to get to know each of them." Manuela said to the twins.

"Since there are two of you and both of you are new here, we have decided to allow you first pick. As well as deciding which the other twin is going to do."

Beth and Byleth looked at each other. While Byleth's face was mostly expressionless, Beth understood what he's saying.

"Are you sure about this?"

Beth nodded in agreement.

"My sister wants to be my assistant, if that's fine with you all."

"Oh, that will be no problem." Rhea said.

"Now you two can choose a house. Manuela and I will take charge of the remaining two houses." Hanneman finished.

Byleth thought hard on this one. He didn't need to ask his sister if what she preferred seeing as she would be with him anyways.

" **Think hard about this.** **_Really_ ** **hard.** " Sothis said, attempting to tease him.

'Get out of my head, you're distracting me.'

A few seconds later, Byleth came out with an answer.

"We will choose the Golden Deer."

"Your heart has made its choice, then. All I ask is that you guide these open minds with virtue, care, and sincerity." 

"They are all promising youths who bear the weight of Fódlan's future upon their shoulders. I hope you two appreciate what an honor it is to lead them."

"Brother? Oh! I am so sincerely sorry! I did not mean to interrupt." A girl with light green, springy hair walked in.

"I am in the middle of something, Flayn. Is it urgent?" Seteth said, his demeanor calming down.

"No, no, it's nothing. More importantly… who are you two?" Flayn asked.

"These two are our newest professors at the academy."

"Oh my! A new addition to the Officers Academy! I am so very pleased to meet you two. I am Seteth's little sister, Flayn. I am so happy to make your acquaintance." She bowed.

Byleth smiled and nodded. Beth grinned. "Happy to make your acquaintance too, Flayn."

"Ahem. Let us focus on the topic at hand. There is something you should be aware of. In a few days' time, there will be a mock battle between the three houses, intended to gauge the current progress of the students. We will be using this battle as an opportunity to ascertain your own abilities as well. Please do not disappoint the archbishop. That is all."

As everyone left the chamber, the twins walked to the Golden Deer classroom. Beth was excited to bits.

As the two walked into the classroom, they saw their 8 students. The twins already talked to them.

"Wait... what?! Are you two really our new homeroom professors?" Hilda asked in surprise.

"Is that true? You aren't quite what I pictured… Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean that the way it sounded." Ignatz said.

"I was sure you two would be roped into joining the knights!" Hilda added.

"Don't tell me. You choose this class just to get to know me better, right? I'm flattered, really." Claude joked.

"Well, you saw right through us." Beth shrugged jokingly.

"One must truly marvel at the exceptionality of this appointment. Becoming teachers to students almost the same age as yourselves. How… unusual. I heard you two were skilled mercenaries, but I cannot shake my discomfort at your new position." Lorenz said.

"Are you two really as strong as they say? Let's see your biceps! I bet I've packed more muscle than you two!" Raphael said, flexing his muscles.

"Don't underestimate us. We pack more muscle than we seem." Byleth smiled.

"Yeah, as far as skill goes, I saw it with my own two eyes. What's more, these two here are the children of the most renowned former captain of the Knights of Seiros." Claude added.

"I heard! There's no way a child of the captain isn't worthy. It's simply not possible." Leonie said.

"The captain? Who are you talking about?" Lysithea asked.

"Captain Jeralt, of course! The most notable captain of the Knights of Seiros and a peerless mercenary."

"He's not  _ that _ well known…" Beth rubbed the back of her head.

"Hmph! It doesn't matter what you think of him. Captain Jeralt deserves nothing but respect." Leonie counter.

"Hm. Well, after working as mercenaries alongside a father figure such as he, I have high hopes for our professors." Lysithea said.

"Just because someone is special doesn't mean their children are special too, Lysithea. Assuming that a child is going to be exceptional just because of their lineage is a bad idea. Don't you agree, Marianne?" Hilda said.

"Huh! Oh… um, yes. I suppose so." Marianne replied.

"Well, we can find out for ourselves in battle. I can't wait to see what tactics you've learned from the captain." Leonie said.

"A battle? Shouldn't we have a welcome party or something first. I'll get the meat!" Raphael said.

"A party would be nice." Beth said.

"How savage. I propose a nice conversation over tea instead. I am more willing to procure some high-quality leaves."

"That also sounds nice."

"Tea? You can't get to know someone over tea. If there's no meat involved, it's not a party!" Raphael said.

"Your common sensibilities are grating to my noble ears. Please silent yourself." Lorenz replied.

"I prefer sweets at my party." Beth said.

"You do?! I mean, I completely agree with you." Lysithea said.

"Sorry for the bickering, Teach. As you can see, the Golden Deer House is a rowdy bunch. We're not especially unified. You'll find nobles and commoners alike here. Those who are dedicated to their studies alongside slackers. But, hey, that just makes your life more exciting, right? I really hope you're looking forward to the year ahead as much as I am."

"Oh, I am. Can't say much about my sister though." Byleth joked.

Beth gasped. "Byleth, don't you dare!"

Byleth chuckled. 

* * *

As Beth and Byleth walked into their new room, they realized how small it was. There were two beds, a desk with some contents on it, a chair, a calendar, and a  _ very _ small closet.

Beth just skipped to a bed and plopped onto one, sighing in comfort. 

Byleth examined the room.

" **You're getting very comfortable rather quickly.** " Sothis said.

"Yep! This bed is sooo comfy. Brother, you should try out your bed."

"I will in a bit. I just wanna see where everything is."

"So… what do you think about the class so far?" Beth asked.

"Eh. Some of them feel like jerks, but I can tell you're gonna say-"

"Just get on their good side and give them time to show their true selves." The twins said at the same time.

"So what are gonna do first. Such a big place, so many things to do! And we're new here, so everyone's gonna be all over us."

" **If you ask me, I feel like that's more of a downside than anything…** " Sothis said.

As Byleth sat down on his bed, he thought to himself.

"Well, Hanneman did want to check out what Crest we have, if we have one at all."

"Oh, yeah. When should we do that?"

"After we get things straightened to our liking. But we'll start on that tomorrow. We should get some rest now."

After nodding, the twins took off their armor and went to sleep.

* * *

After a full day of getting some stuff for their room, getting some gold, and a better weapon for each of them, the next day they visited Hanneman.

After a bit of talking with the Crest scholar, Hanneman got around to scanning them.

"Say, while you two are here… I'd like to use this device I designed to determine whether the power of a Crest resides within you two. Won't hurt a bit, I promise."

Beth had a confused face, which Hanneman noticed.

"You don't know about Crests? Well, allow me to explain to you everything you need to know about Crests. Absolutely everything. Is your calendar clear? This will take a while." 

'Great… more.' Beth thought.

" **Maybe if you didn't have that face, you wouldn't be in this.** " Sothis said.

After a while of explaining, Hanneman pulled out his device again.

"Now then, please go ahead and hold out your arm over this device here."

Byleth held out his arm over the device. All they could see was his hand's shadow for a bit. Then it changed into multiple squiggles.

"What is this?!?!" Hanneman asked, eyes widened. "A pattern I've never seen before… is it possible an as-yet undiscovered Crest has been detected? To think there are still Crests out there that even I am unaware of! How thrilling! Now for you."

Beth did the same thing and the same pattern appeared.

"Fascinating! Both of you have the same Crest!"

Hanneman then cleared his throat (and excitement).

"Pardon my unrestrained jubilation. I have much to consider. You two may leave now. I have much more research to do in regard to this Crest. Yes, so very much more research. But for now, your work here is done."

He turned around and started to gush over the Crest once again.

"Hmm… What could this line here be indicating? Perhaps it represents a lack of symmetry… or perhaps… What in the world? Oh, I see… It may be connected to that, but to a greater degree than usual…"

If anyone noticed the Twins were still in the room, you can see a sweet drop on their heads. They then decided to leave.

"So… that was something." Beth said to Byleth.

'What do you think, Sothis?' Beth thought.

Silence.

'Sothis?'

"... **Sorry. It's just… ever since you two out your arms above that device, I've been starting to feel a little sick.** "

'How?' Byleth thought.

" **I… don't know. But whatever it is, I don't wanna go through that again.** "

* * *

The two's first Sunday came. The twins had such limited time, but a few things they wanted to do. Byleth looked at some assignments on the calendar. He decided to do those instead, while Beth would build up the trust of other students.

So the two split up. While Beth went to go talk to the students, Byleth first went into the greenhouse to grow some vegetables.

Beth saw Edelgard and Hubert and walked over to them.

"Greetings, Edelgard. Greetings, Hubert."

"Greetings, Beth." Edelgard replied. Hubert grunted.

"I trust you're eager to face the Black Eagles in battle. Enjoy the thrill of anticipation while it lasts. Soon you'll wish you had chosen to lead our house instead."

"Oh, really? I accept that challenge."

"If you continue to insist on distracting me and Lady Edelgard's conversation, I will have no choice but to get rid of you." Hubert said.

Beth's eyes widened and she backed up slightly.

"Joking, of course."

Beth sighed in relief and chuckled. "You got me good there, Hubert. Anyways, I'll leave you two to your business."

As Beth walked away from the two, she walked over to Dimitri and Dudue.

As Beth was having a conversation with the two, Byleth walked to the greenhouse. On the way there, he noticed a girl with messy purple hair.

The same one he bumped into the other day.

He decided to walk up to her to talk to her, since she was the only person the two didn't talk to the other day, other than the small interaction they shared.

Once he was close enough, he heard that she was humming and writing something on her notepad. Once she noticed him, she freaked out.

"Um, I, ah, was justheadingbacktomyroombye!"

In a flash, she went into her room and closed the door.

Byleth was left flabbergasted.

He walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"Sorry, I don't like going out unless I really have to. Hope you're okay with that, Professor!"

"Well, if it doesn't stop me from talking to you, then I'm okay with that."

"Are you gonna talk to me all day, everyday?!"

"No. Not all day nor everyday. Only when you feel like talking. I can check up on you everyday, and if you don't feel like talking, then you don't have to."

"O-okay… I can manage that… I think."

"That's good. Anyways, you can call me Byleth, if that's comfortable with you too."

"Okay… I'll keep that in mind. My name's Bernadetta."

"Okay, Bernadetta. Hopefully, I'll see you later."

As he left, she thought to herself.

'Why would he take the time out of his day to talk to me? Bernie's just no good for anyone…’

As she walked over to her desk to continue writing, she heard her stomach grumble.

“So… hungry… but there’s too many people out. I’ll just have to wait until nighttime…”

* * *

After a long day for the two, the twins plopped onto the dining tables, eating their dinner that Beth made. Everyone else was in their quarters, leaving the entire dining room to themselves. They kept their lantern close to see each other and their food.

"So, how did everything go?" Beth asked.

"Everything went well. I even talked to the girl I bumped into a few days ago."

"Oh really? You got a name or…"

"She told me her name is Bernadetta. She didn't tell me her last name."

"Interesting."

"So how about you?"

"Oh, it went well for the most part. Some like Jeritza were pretty cold to me, but other than them, it went pretty well."

"Did Sothis lead you when you got lost?"

"Wha-?!"

" **I totally did.** " Sothis told both the twins. She appeared to have manifested, but only to the twins. She was basically a ghost. But Beth didn’t seem to mind.

"Sothis, come on!"

As Byleth and Sothis laughed, Beth smiled at the sight in front of her.

Two people she really cared about having a great time.

Then they heard a small noise. They all turned their heads to see a shadow figure.

“Eep!”

Byleth picked up the lantern and walked to the figure until the figure was clear.

“Bernadetta?”

“I’msorryI’msorryI’mSOsorry! Please don’t punish me!” She said, curled up into a ball in the corner.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Beth walked up to them and saw how afraid she was. So she lowered herself by getting on her knees.

“Hey… Bernadetta, that’s your name, right?”

Bernadetta nodded.

“Listen, nobody here is going to hurt you, okay?”

Bernadetta looked at the two. She seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Now, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here?” 

“I-I was starving. But I didn’t want to get out earlier.”

“Why is that?”

“... Too many people were out.”

“Oh. Well, Bernadetta? I could cook something for you, if you want.”

“T-thank you…”

Bernadetta and Byleth sat down at the dining table, while Beth started cooking up another meal.

“...why?” 

“Hm?” Byleth asked, not catching what she said.

“Why are you two doing this for me?”

“Because we care for you.”

“But I’m not even your student.”

“Even then, you’re still our priority.”

“...Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Here you go, Bernadetta. I don’t know what you like so I just made what I made for me and Byleth.” Beth said, giving her her food.

“...thank you.”

Bernadetta was anxious at first. For all that she knew, she could’ve poisoned the meal when she wasn’t looking. But she finally relaxed and finally took a bit out of it.

She liked it.

No.

She  _ loved _ it!

She kept digging in, telling Beth what she wanted to know.

Beth smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”

* * *

“T-thanks.” Bernadetta said.

After Bernadetta finished, she wanted to go back to her quarters. Byleth walked with her back, while Beth stayed back and cleaned up.

“Don’t thank me. Thank my sister for the meal.”

“But both of you were so nice to me… Oh no… I owe a debt now, don’t I?!”

“No, no. No debt necessary.”

“Okay… well, see you.”

Bernadetta walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

As Byleth walked back to his quarters, Beth ran up to him.

“ **That girl… she was acting pretty strange. I wonder what made her like that.** ” Sothis commented.

“I don’t know… but it must have been really bad. Part of me wants to know, but…” Beth said.

“Yeah…” Byleth replied, knowing what Beth was going to say next.

“So what should we do?”

“I’d recommend worrying about tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah! Our first day of teaching!”

“Correct. Next time we get the chance, we can know more about her, as well as others.”

“Sounds like a plan. Know what else sounds nice?”

“What?”

“Sleeping. Man, today sure sucked a lot out of me.”


	4. Mock Battles & Manifestations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first mock battle has arrived while a new enemy lurks in the shadows. And an ally gains a new form...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting with this chapter, this is where my additives come to play. Hope you enjoy the changes I made here!

The 30th day of the Great Tree Moon was here, meaning that the mock battle has arrived. (It was also Ferdinand's birthday so Beth got some flowers for him, which he gladly appreciated.)

The twins met up with Claude in the Training Grounds.

"Time for a mock battle, eh? Hmm, how should we go about this… well, you'll be our commanders, that much is for sure. Just don't screw it up and everything'll be great. Got it, Teach and Assist?"

"Leave it to us." Byleth said.

"Wait, did… did you just call me 'Assist?'" Beth asked.

"Well, he's the main teacher so I call him 'Teach,' and you're his assistant, so you'll be 'Assist'." Claude said.

"That's a terrible nickname. Just call me Beth."

"Gotcha. Anyways, I think I got a few ideas to help out. For example! If I add a little something to their food to upset their stomachs…"

"Don't even think about it." The twins said.

"Yeah, yeah, wink, wink. I read you two. You can't officially condone that sort of thing, right? But say, hypothetically speaking, students from the other houses started racing to the infirmary. As far as anyone knows, it could be a harmless little stomach bug making the rounds."

"Well, well. What a fascinating conversation you two are having. May we join?" Edelgard asked, walking in with Dimitri.

"Claude, I can't believe you would stoop to such crooked schemes to gain the advantage. Have you no honor?" Dimitri offendedly said.

Claude chuckled.

"If that was really my scheme, I wouldn't be talking about it out in the open. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until our battle to see what's really in store."

"It's irrelevant anyhow. Whatever you have planned won't save you from a crushing defeat." Edelgard replied.

"She has a point. Still, I'm rather eager to see what sort of schemes that mind of yours conjures up." Dimitri agreed.

"You heard 'em, Teach. And Beth. We can't let these fine folks down." Claude said.

"Well, only if they insist." Beth jokingly having an evil look to her face.

"A-are you serious, Beth? Well, if a crooked scheme is really what you're after, I've got more than a few of those up my sleeve."

Manuela and Hanneman walked into the Training Grounds, getting into the conversation.

"Aw, how precious. Looks like you two and the students have become fast friends." Manuela said.

"While I am pleased that you two are taking the initiative to acquaint yourselves with the students, I'm afraid it's about time for the faculty strategy meeting."

**'Oh, Beth is gonna enjoy this.** ' Sothis said.

"I'm sorry, Professors. It's about time I returned to my training anyway. Claude, Edelgard. Until we meet again in the battlefield, farewell." Dimitri said, walking away.

"I look forward to assessing your abilities. I hope you two don't disappoint." Edelgard said.

"Well, I hope we live to your expectations." Beth said.

Edelgard smiled and nodded before she left.

* * *

A few hours later, the three houses arrived in a grassland with lots of forests. Seeing as they couldn't use all of their students, Beth and Byleth talked about seeing who would work best. They needed Claude there so they needed three more.

In the end, they chose Lysithea, Marianne, and Hilda. The rest would sit out.

Seeing as they still had time to prepare, Beth checked what weapons they had while Byleth surveyed the landscape to see who the other classes put out.

The Blue Lions had Ashe, Dedue, Mercedes, Dimitri, and Hanneman.

The Black Eagles had Ferdinand, Hubert, Dorothea, Edelgard, and Manuela.

'No sign of Bernadetta…' Byleth thought.

' **Why does that matter?** ' Sothis asked him.

'Didn't want to frighten her or hurt her.'

' **Well, you shouldn't go easy on students with potentially tragic origins. This is a mock battle to not only show what we are capable of, but to give a solid thought of what true battles are like to the students. I know you like her, but just keep that in mind next time.** ' Sothis made sure both twins heard what she said.

Byleth returned to the Golden Deer, ready to give out the plan.

"So, this is the stage for the mock battle… The command's all yours, Teach!" Claude said.

As they laid down the plan, Jeralt stepped out onto the middle, giving out the rules.

"Never thought I'd see Father do this. He looks so done with it already." Beth chuckled.

"Alright, let the Mock Battle Begin!" Jeralt yelled before stepping away.

They set their plan in motion. The twins made up a set, Claude and Lysithea made another, and Hilda and Marianne made up the last.

The twins went to the middle, making the others left and right of them.

"I will fight on the front lines! I can stop the enemy's advance with grace!" Ferdinand said.

' **Someone's being cocky…** ' Sothis said.

The twins looked at each other, confirming who should take him. Beth stepped up. As Ferdinand tried to go for a quick jab, Beth easily dodged it by spinning out of the way. Then, using the momentum from her spin, she whacked Ferdinand in the face with the flat side of her wooden Lance head, knocking him down.

"I am the son of House Aegir! How did I fail? I must train harder..." Ferdinand said, holding his cheek. He was out, but he decided to lie down in shame. Hubert grunted and Edelgard facepalmed.

"We are off to a terrible start…" Edelgard mumbled.

"Ashe, can you move to the front lines? I want to lure the enemy this way." Dimitri said.

"Got it, Your Highness! Leave it to me!" Ashe said.

"Once you've finished preparing, make your move. Dedue, Mercedes, keep our enemy occupied until then."

"I'm on it."

"Oh my! We'll try our best!"

As Ashe started advancing towards the Golden Deer, Byleth turned around.

"Okay, me and Beth will take care of Hubert and Ashe. Lysithea, Claude, you two will take the left. Hilda, Marianne, you two take the right. If any of you need assistance, retreat and find us. Alright, let's go."

The teams went their separate ways.

“Sorry, Ferdinand. Hope you have a good birthday.” Beth whispered as she passed him.

* * *

"I can't believe they made us go alone. I feel like we would be better in the backlines. Or better yet, sitting out." Hilda said, going through the forest with Marianne in tow.

"Wouldn't you agree, Marianne?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying much attention…"

"Well, pay more attention. We could get ambushed."

"I'm sorry…"

As they got out of the forest, they saw Dedue and Dimitri. They decided to hide behind a tree.

"Ookkay, now maybe we should wait until the professors get over here." Hilda said, nervously laughing.

Marianne looked behind Hilda.

"Hilda, look out!"

Hilda looked behind to see Dedue about to swing his wooden axe.

Hilda quickly hit his axe to counter. But it backfired, with Dedue hitting her in the stomach with the butt of the axe, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Hilda!"

Dedue turned to deal with Marianne.

"Please don't make this harder than it needs to be." Dedue said.

Seeing as Marianne was in trouble, Hilda quickly got up, clutching her stomach. She charged behind Dedue, hitting the back of his head with the back of the axe. He fell down, but he wasn't out.

"Marianne, run!"

As Hilda turned to run, Marianne didn't. She lifted her hand and hit Dedue with a non-lethal wind spell. It was very weak but it was strong enough to crash him into a tree, taking him down. Dedue grunted, but left quietly.

The two took a breather.

Marianne walked over to Hilda.

"Are you okay, Hilda?"

"I'm alright."

Marianne started to use a healing spell on Hilda's stomach.

"I'm sorry…"

"What are you sorry about?"

"I didn't step in or help until the end."

"Oh don't apologize. You still helped me. And we're still kicking, right?"

"R-right."

"See? We have each other's backs! Now, let's see if we can hide from Dimitri until the professors arrive."

As Hilda looked to see another forest to hide in, Marianne smiled.

"Okay."

* * *

After taking care of Ashe and Hubert, the twins went into a few trees to scout the other enemies.

"You think Hilda and Marianne are still going?" Beth asked.

"I have a feeling they are." Byleth said.

"I do too. Although, giving them the side of Dimitri and Dedue is a bit much, don't you think?"

"I feel like they could've taken it, with the right teamwork."

**'Are you two seriously having a casual conversation in the middle of a mock battle?** ' Sothis said.

"There's nobody here. I feel like we're safe right now." Beth said.

' **Oh really? Then how about the people behind you two?** '

Beth was about to say she was bluffing before she heard a twig snap. She and Byleth quickly turned to see Claude and Lysithea.

Sothis chuckled.

"What are you two doing here?" Byleth said.

"Good news and bad news. The good news is that Lysithea here took down Dorothea."

"Bad news?" Byleth questioned.

"Edelgard dodged all our attacks and has been following us. But I think we lost her."

As soon as that was said, Edelgard came down from a tree, swinging her axe towards Lysithea. Claude quickly tackled her out of the way.

"Have you really?" Edelgard said.

"You're going to pay for that." Lysithea said

"You're outnumbered, Edelgard. I'd give up if I were you." Claude smirked.

"We still should not underestimate her. Not just yet." Byleth said.

Edelgard smiled.

"Run, Marianne!"

They four looked back to see Hilda and Marianne running towards them, with Dimitri hot on their tails.

Beth gasped, realizing she took her eyes off of Edelgard. She quickly looked back to catch Edelgard mid-swing. Beth  _ barely _ dodged in time. After the dodge, she jumped back.

Dimitri and Edelgard had cornered the Golden Deer.

"It seems you let your guard down." Edelgard said

"We'll still win this!" Beth said.

All of them prepared their weapons. Claude aimed at Edelgard before quickly turning to shoot Dimitri. He got hit on the shoulder.

It was like a switch. Dimitri's face quickly changed to… to a blood-craving lunatic.

"Uh oh." Beth said.

She knew that face. Oh she certainly did. Both herself and Byleth had these moments. Especially that one time...

Dimitri charged at full speed towards Claude. He kept going, jab after jab. Claude was dodging with ease at first before his dodges became more and more slower.

Dimitri looked like he still had a lot of energy.

Beth knew she had to step in. But before she could do so, Edelgard engaged in combat with him.

"Get out of my way, Edelgard." Dimitri growled.

"The way I see it, you're in mine."

The Deer saw this chance to escape the forest.

After escaping, they prepared for Edelgard and/or Dimitri to come out of the forest.

They waited…

And waited…

And waited…

"I-I think they finished off each other." Hilda said.

Then, a battle-torn Edelgard dashed out of the forest. Beth decided to take initiative.

"Beth, no!" Her brother yelled.

But she was too far in to back out.

She swung her lance to hit Edelgard. She hit her, but Edelgard's axe was longer than expected. The head of the axe hit Beth's face. Both girls fell to the ground.

Beth and Edelgard were out.

Beth got up.

"I'm… I'm sorry. Go on without me." Beth said.

Edelgard and Beth sat out with the rest of the students. Beth looked to her very far right to see Bernadetta writing something. Before she could get up and talk to her, Edelgard spoke up.

"You fought well."

Beth looked back to Edelgard.

"Oh, you did too."

"How you took down me and Ferdinand. You used your momentum of evasion to counter Ferdinand. For me, you tried to do the same, but not as effectively."

"Yeah, I tried to go for effective moves without hurting you all  _ too _ much."

"Well, I think you should've gone for the more effective ones. If you did, you would probably still be with your class."

Beth continued to watch her class continue on with them. Her brother was leading them well. Better than she could ever do.

Dimitri walked over to the two.

"Greetings." Dimitri said solemnly. He looked just as battle-torn as Edelgard, if not, worse.

"I came to apologize for my behavior earlier."

"It's alright." Beth said.

"No, it isn't. I let my anger get the best of me. When I really shouldn't have."

"Dimitri… it's a common thing that happens to a lot of people. Me and my brother are no exceptions."

"You two are like that too?"

"Every now and then. Especially that one time."

"What happened in that one time, if you don't mind me asking." Edelgard asked.

"... Back when we were children, me and my brother trained together. We weren't as experienced as we are now. Especially back then, he had a sort of temper too. So one time, I accidentally hurt Byleth. Like,  _ really _ hurt him. Then he lost it. He started hitting me with his wooden sword so fast, I couldn't see a lot of his attacks. I was able to protect myself from some of them. But the others hit and it hurt me a whole lot. It was until our father intervened that Byleth stopped. Then… he got emotional. He started crying on how much he hurt me. We didn't train with one another for a while. Now, we train together once again. But we're not as inexperienced as we were back then. And I feel like that’s the reason he isn’t too emotional nowadays. Doesn’t want a repeat of that."

"That's… I'm sorry." Dimitri said.

"No need to apologize. We already resolved it a very long time ago. I know Byleth would never intentionally hurt me. So please don't see nor treat my brother as a monster." Beth concluded.

"We won't." Edelgard said.

"I promise." Dimitri said.

As they wrapped up their conversation, they looked back to see that the battle had concluded.

"All right, that's that! The winner of this mock battle is… The Golden Deer House!"

Beth got up and cheered.

The students cheered Byleth's name.

He wasn't paying any mind to his name being called. He looked at his sister and gave her a thumbs up.

She grinned and returned his thumbs up.

* * *

"Great work, Teach! That was a brilliant win." Claude praised Byleth back at the monastery.

"Everyone did well." Byleth said.

"Huh. Playing ignorant as to the quality of your command and deflecting the praise to your students. You really are a model professor, Teach." Claude winked.

Byleth smiled a bit.

"To be honest, I had a bunch of other schemes planned as well, just in case the situation called for it. But I didn't have to resort to any of them. I suppose our opponents lucked out."

Then the rest of the house, including Beth, joined the two.

"Well met, Professor! The breadth of your skill was on full display today. I must admit that your tactics were masterful. I shudder to think what may have transpired had it been Claude leading us into battle." Lorenz said.

"I noticed that too! We just did what you told us, and we won! I love it!" Raphael said.

"As expected from a child of the former captain of the knights. Thank you for today, Professor. I have much to consider."

"I never doubted that our professor would be amazing! It was way too obvious. Don't you agree, Marianne?"

"Huh? Me? Oh, um, yes. Of course. Well done, Professor…" Marianne said.

"Captain Jeralt taught his child well. It would have been more of a surprise had our professor proved lacking." Leonie said

"Don't you think it's a bit harsh to give Jeralt all of the credit, Leonie? In any case, it's clear that we only won because of our new mentor's guidance." Ignatz said.

"A mercenary's wisdom and techniques are forged in battle. Those are the sorts of things you can only learn through experience. Right, Teach?"

Byleth nodded.

"But more importantly, it's time to celebrate our victory! Teach here has yet to try my well renowned home cooking. I really do hope you'll join us. After all, I swiped some finely aged cheese from the dining hall for just this occasion."

"Oh, you guys can go ahead. We'll catch up." Byleth said, pulling Beth aside.

As the students continued on, Byleth looked at Beth.

"You okay?"

"Yeah? Why are you asking?" Beth asked.

"I'm asking because they were acting like you weren't there. Plus, you looked saddened by that."

Beth's expression widened.

"I-It's my fault anyways. Besides, you were the leader anyways. I'm gonna go catch up with the others now. See you there."

And with that, Beth left.

' **She's hurt, alright…** ' Sothis commented.

Byleth sighed.

* * *

Byleth looked for Beth at the party. But she wasn't there. Byleth decided to look for her after he finished eating.

As soon as he finished, he was called down to the audience chamber.

Once Byleth arrived, Beth was already there. She was avoiding any eye contact with him.

Byleth could tell it wasn't from hate, however.

"Both of your work with the students was remarkable. I can see Jeralt trained the two of you well. I do hope you were able to use this occasion to bond with the students." Rhea commented.

Byleth knew Beth didn't, but decided to answer for her anyways.

"We did.”

"I am so happy to hear it. Nothing would please me more than if you used this coming year to grow closer still."

"Of course, the mock battle was mere practice. The real fight is the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, which will take place during the Wyvern Moon. You two are expected to properly train your students do as not to humiliate the academy during the long-held tradition that is the coming battle." Seteth said.

"As for today, I have called both of you here to tell you of your mission for the month ahead. Your class is to dispose of some bandits causing trouble nearby."

Beth decided to space out, seeing as Byleth would be the leader here.

' **What is up with you?** ' Sothis said.

'What do you mean?'

' **You've been acting all strange, ever since the talk at the reception hall. I know you're hurt by that, but you shouldn't let that affect you.** ' 

'It's not affecting me-''

' **Then why are you acting like it is?** '

Beth was stumped there.

'...I guess… it is.'

' **Now you come face-to-face with the fact. Congratulations. If it's gonna affect your relationships, then change it.** '

'I'll try to… but I don’t know how…’

‘ **Well, talk to someone about it. I don’t know if I’ll be much help here, surprisingly, but I think you know a person or two that will help.** ’

‘…I think I know who.’

* * *

_ Somewhere in Zanado, the Red Canyon… _

"What is this nonsense!? All I was told was to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible! No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail!" Kostas yelled.

" **_You have proven yourself worthless. Distracted by something so trivial. I had hoped you would achieve your goals despite the setback. But now the children of the knights' former captain is in play. How interesting._ ** "

"Hey! This isn't what we agreed to!!!" Kostas yelled at the mysterious figure.

The figure continued, ignoring Kostas's words.

" **_Hiring mercenary twins as professors. What was that woman thinking…_ ** "

"Are you listening to me?! How do we finish this?!"

" **_You die._ ** " The figure said.

"Wh-- What?!"

" **_Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake. One you will pay for._ ** "

Before Kostas said another word, the figure sliced his chest open with an axe, making Kostas fall to the ground.

“Argh! No, please! Give me another chance! Please!” Kostas cried for mercy before the figure kept swinging.

The figure kept going until there was barely any visible skin and lots of blood and organs were exposed.

The figure took a minute of catching their breath.

" **_Now… I must locate your replacement…_ ** "

Then the figure disappeared, leaving Kostas's bloody corpse in the middle of the Red Canyon.

* * *

_ A few days later… _

"You okay kid? Are you adjusting to life at the monastery?" Jeralt asked.

"I-I don't know, Father." Beth said.

"Oh, why is that?"

"It's just… Byleth's getting all the praise for our hard work. It feels as though they don't even know I exist. But other than that… it's been pretty decent here."

"Well, sit down. We're going to talk."

Beth sat down in a chair, with Jeralt sitting across from her.

"So tell me everything."

Beth looked down, not knowing where to start.

"When we won the mock battle a few days ago, everyone was giving all the praise to Byleth. I mean sure, he made up the plans but… it's like they don't even see me. They always say "Jeralt's child is amazing" or "our professor is the best", but I'm always left out."

"Hm."

"I'm sorry… Saying that out loud made it seem selfish." Beth said.

"Well, you make your own mark."

"Huh?"

“Back when I was with the Knights of Seiros, I wasn’t recognized for my skills for a while too. That all changed when I defeated a divine beast without any issue or breaking a sweat. Show your own mark. What can you bring to the table that will make those noble brats "see" you."

Beth was contemplating on what to do. Before she got a few ideas.

"I… I think I got it."

Jeralt smiled a bit.

"Thanks, Father!" Beth said, hugging Jeralt before running off.

Jeralt chuckled.

"Those kids sometimes…"

As soon as Beth turned a corner, she collided with Byleth, causing both of them to fall.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Beth said, getting up and helping Byleth up.

“It’s fine. I just came to tell you Hanneman wanted to test on our Crests a little more.”

“Oh, Okay...”

As they walked over there, the two were shrouded in silence. Then, Beth spoke up.

“Byleth?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to apologize for my behavior these last few days.”

“It’s alright, don’t fret over it.”

Beth chuckled.

“You forgive me too easily. Even if I don’t deserve it.”

Before Byleth could comment on that, they arrived at Hanneman’s office.

"Sorry for calling you two back here. But I wanted to do some tests to help us figure out your mysterious Crest."

Hanneman took some tools and attached them to the Crest device.

"You don't need to worry. It's a combination of radiation and magic, but it shouldn't harm you."

"Shouldn't?" Beth reiterated.

"I never had to use these before until now. But hypothetically, it should be harmless."

The twins looked at each other. Byleth was in disbelief while Beth was in  _ slight _ fear.

' **Oh, an even more powerful device…** '

'Oh yeah, didn't it make you feel weird before?'

' **It has.** '

Beth didn't want Sothis to go through that again. So she decided to speak up.

"Quickly, let's start. Take off one of your vambraces." Hanneman said.

' **Nevermind, just make it quick.** '

The twins took off their right vambraces and lifted their arms over the device.

Hanneman activated the device and then the enhancement and immediately Beth got a headache. It wasn't too much pain however, especially compared to other headaches she’s suffered.

She looked over to Byleth and she could tell he was having a similar headache.

The symbol appeared once again, only this time it was smaller than last time. A lot more was revealed.

"Impossible…" Hanneman muttered.

"What is it?" Byleth asked.

"It- I- I'll need to do more research. Thank you for your cooperation." Hanneman said, before he left.

The twins looked at each other weirdly.

* * *

Beth took off her armor and coat and hung them up. She plumped onto her bed, sighing.

"Are you okay? You look like you're deep in thought." Byleth asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm just thinking about something."

“About what?”

“Things I can do to make the other students see me.”

“Oh. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not that I can think of at the moment.”

“Well, just tell me if you need anything from me.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“By the way, Hanneman was acting weird at the end. What do you think that means?”

“I don't know. Maybe we have an illegal Crest or something.”

“Is there even such a thing as Illegal Crests?”

Beth shrugged.

Speaking of Crest, Beth remembered about Sothis.

'Sothis, are you okay?'

Silence.

'... Sothis?'

Then she heard a painful cry.

"Sothis!"

Byleth looked at her weirdly.

"What about her?"

"She's in pain, we have to do some-"

Beth then yelled in pain herself and fell to the ground.

"Beth!"

Then Byleth grunted in pain and got on his knees.

Both the twins started coughing up blood on the floor. Their noses started bleeding as well. Tears of pain flowed down Beth's face.

"B-brother… what’s happening to us?..." she quietly cried before coughing up some more blood.

Then, she grabbed her chest and cried out in pain. After the cry, her head and body fell to the ground as she closed her eyes. She lost her consciousness as blood still flowed from her mouth and nose.

"Beth? Beth!" Byleth attempted to wake her up.

Before long, Byleth felt his chest hurting as well. It felt like 3 Hammers hit his chest at full force. He succumbed to it as well.

He plopped onto the ground. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a golden glow with green particles surrounding the two.

* * *

12 hours later, Byleth finally woke up. He slowly and painfully got up. He checked his body for any more pain. None.

“Weird…”

He looked down to see his sister still on the floor. He quickly checked on her. She was sweating a lot and breathing heavily, but other than that she was fine.

Byleth sighed in relief.

He picked her up and put her on her bed. He realized there was a lot of blood on her face, as did he. He decided to get a wet towel to clean up. As soon as he turned around, the door opened.

He had no expression, as usual, but he was mentally freaking out.

The blood on his face, on the ground, and on an unconscious Beth wouldn’t be the best look for him.

What if it was Seteth or Rhea?

What if it was Claude or other Golden Deer Students?

What if it was Bernadetta? She’d freak at the sight and probably never talk to him again.

As the door finally opened all the way, Byleth’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘It can’t be…’ he thought

“I see you’ve finally woken up. I thought you two would need these.”

“…Sothis?”

“Hurry up, take the towels. My arms are getting sore.”


	5. Sirius, the Ashen Demons’ Maid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sothis now has a physical manifestation and some of her memories have been recovered! What can the Twins do about her?

Beth groaned as her eyes slowly opened. She got up, rubbing her head. The sunlight got in her eyes, blinding her for a bit.

‘Wait…’ Beth widened her eyes.

“It’s already day!?!”

She quickly got up from her bed, her blanket wrapping around her legs, causing her to trip and fall.

“Today’s already starting off  _ great _ .” She mumbled.

Then she noticed that there wasn’t any blood on the ground anymore.

Before Beth had the idea of questioning her brother about it, the door opened, revealing Byleth.

Or rather, a blurry blob that resembled him.

‘What is going on with me?’ Beth thought.

“Oh, you’re up. We have a huge problem.” 

Yep, It was Byleth.

“Yeah, we’re late to class!” Beth said, quickly getting up.

“Class doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

Beth froze. 

‘So all that panic was for nothing…’ she thought.

“Oh. So, what’s the problem?”

“Remember last night?”

Oh Beth remembered alright. All the pain... All the blood... Sothis and the two screaming in agony...

Wait…

‘Sothis! Are you okay?!’ She thought.

No response.

“Brother, can you talk to Sothis?”

“Um, that’s the problem…”

Then he took a step sideways, revealing Sothis behind him. But Beth could barely make out any of her details. All she could clearly see was that her height had slightly increased. Now she would go up to Beth’s chest. 

“Sothis! Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!” She said, hugging her.

“...how long do you think it’ll take for her to realize?” Sothis asked Byleth. Her voice was a slight bit deeper too.

“3 seconds.” He replied.

“Realize what?” Beth said, pulling away. Seeing how close she was now, she learned that her facial features and regalia haven’t changed though.

“…”

“…”

“…WHAT THE FUCK!?!” Beth exclaimed, jumping back.

“Shh!” Sothis said.

“Told you.” Byleth replied.

“H-h-how? I-is-is this even possible?!” Beth stuttered.

“I do not know. But my guess is that Hanneman’s experiment brought me out of you two.”

“B-b-But how did that give you a human form? Why and how were you connected to us? Who even are you?!”

“Rude.”

“Sorry. It’s just… What?!”

“I haven’t a clue. Now calm down.” Sothis replied.

Beth started taking deep breaths. After a few seconds, her breathing slowed down.

“Okay… I think I’ve calmed down.”

“Good.”

“So, Sothis has a physical manifestation. How is that a problem?”

“Well, for starters, how are we going to hide her?”

“Why would we need to hide her?”

“Well, once I gained this form, a few of my memories came back to me.”

“Really? What did you find out?”

“Remember how I said that I was also called ‘The Beginning’?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I remembered why I’m called that. I am the Goddess that created all of Fódlan.”

“Seriously!?”

“Shh.”

“Sorry… seriously?”

“Yes. So you can no doubt see what problems this could make.”

“Yeah… are there any more memories that came back?”

“Yes, And I’ll save the rest for another day. But I will share one last thing with you both.”

“Alright, shoot.”

“Well… Rhea is my daughter.”

The silence was so thick, the twins could cut it with their weapons.

“...what?” Byleth asked in disbelief.

“I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“Yeah. I’ll tell you two more, but that will be for another day. I don’t want to confuse you with too much of this.”

“Okay.”

“So, we need to think of a few things. A new name, new clothing, and how we are going to approach Rhea with her.” Byleth said.

“Hmm… I think I can get the clothing. So what do we do about a name? How about… ‘Sothia’?”

“Too close to Sothis. What about ‘Sirius?’”

“Hm… that name will do.”

“Alright, Sirius it is. I know what will be your disguise. But we’ll need to get it.” Beth said, grabbing their pouch of gold.

“Alright, do what you must. But please make it quick.”

Beth and Byleth walked down to the Marketplace, looking for that dress she saw when she got another lance a few weeks ago. She noted that the seller had pink hair. So she walked over to her.

“Welcome! You two are the new professors, aren’t ya?”

“That’s correct.”

“Well, nice to meet ya! I’m Anna.”

“Beth.”

“Byleth.”

“Well, take a look around!”

Beth saw a light green blob. She walked up to it to get a closer look at it, just in case it was the dress from the other day. Luckily, it was.

“How much is this dress?”

“Oh, that one? That’s… 200,000.”

Huh?” The Twins said in unison.

“I’m just poking at ya. It’s 200.”

Beth chuckled as Byleth took a sigh of relief.

After paying her the 200 gold, Byleth walked to Beth.

“Beth, are you okay? Ever since you woke up, you've been squinting at everything.”

“Oh, it’s because everything’s so blurry.”

“Morning grogginess?”

Beth shook her head. “If it was that, it would’ve been gone a long time ago.”

“Weird…”

“Sounds like you need some glasses.” Anna said, walking over with the dress, overhearing the conversation between the two.

“Huh?”

“Glasses. Tell ya what, I’ll throw in a pair of glasses with the dress for a good solid… hm… 25 gold. How about it?”

“Deal.”

As Byleth paid the extra 25 gold, Anna gave Beth a pair of red-rimmed glasses with a band. Beth put them on.

“That’s better.” She said, smiling.

“The band is for when you’re in battle so they won’t fall off!”

“Ah okay. Thanks, Anna!” Beth said, walking off with Byleth.

“Come back soon!” 

* * *

“How do you think your eyesight got worse?” Byleth asked Beth.

After quickly running by the Cafeteria and grabbing three plates of breakfast, Beth and Byleth talked as Sothis went into the changing closet.

“Last night, my head, like every other part of my body, was hurting a whole lot. Including my eyes. Maybe that might be it. Did you feel it in your head too?”

“Yes, but my eyes didn’t.” Byleth said.

“Weird.” Beth said.

“It’s crazy knowing how much has happened because of that experiment.”

“Murder attempt is more like it…” Beth grumbled as she took another bite of her meal.

“…Is this supposed to be a joke?”

“Hm?”

Sothis walked out. She was wearing a light green and white maid outfit. She took off her tiara and replaced it with the maid headband. She was also wearing white leggings and brown shoes.

Byleth couldn’t resist smiling. He could resist laughing, however, but barely. He didn’t actually look at the thing before. He was too worried about his sister.

“Is this some sort of mistake? Did your poor eyesight choose this?”

“Nope.”

“I’m not going to be your maid!”

“You’ll only have to be one when we’re out.”

“B-But What’s your story for this?! That you just so happened to find a maid in the middle of the forest?”

“I’ll just say you’re Sirius, our personal maid from Remire Village that father doesn’t know about.”

“You think that’ll work?” Byleth asked.

“Most likely.”

“That last few times you said that always ended terribly, so I don’t have too much confidence in it.”

* * *

“I have heard that you two wanted to see me? Need any help with the assignment this month?” Rhea asked.

“That won’t be necessary, Lady Rhea. Someone we trust from Remire Village came over and would like to stay with us, if you don’t mind.” Beth said, playing it cool.

“I don’t mind at all. Tell me, what is your name?”

“My name is Sirius, Beth and Byleth’s personal maid. It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Rhea.” Sothis said, giving her voice a bit more royalty, and bowing down.

Seteth silently grunted.

“The pleasure is all mine. However… you have a familiar aura about you…”

“I do?”

Rhea chuckled.

“It’s probably just my imagination. Forgive me. I look forward to seeing you get along with our students in this academy.”

“As do I.”

As the three left, Rhea and Seteth walked to the other room, Rhea taking a deep breath.

“Seteth?”

“Hm?”

“Didn’t Sirius… feel familiar to you?”

“I’d be dishonest if I said she didn’t. But I still don’t trust her. Just like those other two, she just came out of nowhere.”

“Well, we should keep her close until we figure out what this feeling is.”

“As you wish.”

As the three left the 2nd Floor and felt that they were safe, they breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, at least that’s over with…” Sothis said.

“So what now?” Beth asked,

“Well, we need to introduce you to the students as well, but that can wait until tomorrow.” Byleth said.

“Oh! I got just the place! The sauna!” Beth said.

Byleth and Sothis looked at her weirdly.

“Why there, of all places?”

“I heard it was really relaxing. Eh? So how about it?”

“I mean… the idea isn't terrible.”

* * *

“Beth, we need to come here again sometime.” Sothis sighed.

“Yeah… I can feel all the stress just slipping away…” Beth said, relaxing.

“I will admit, this is rather relaxing.” Byleth agreeing.

The three had the whole room to themselves, which was perfect. Beth had to leave her glasses with her clothes and armor, so she couldn’t see anything. But it didn’t matter to her. She was having a nice time, relaxing with the two people she really cared about.

Just those two and her.

“Hey, Teach. Hey, Beth.”

“Heya!”

“Greetings.”

“Hope we’re not interrupting.”

Well, just those two, her and what sounded like Claude, Raphael, Ignatz, and Lysithea.

“Hey, guys.” Beth said.

“What are you four doing here?” Byleth asked.

“I came from an exercise. Heard this was a pretty good place to relax afterwards.” Raphael said.

“Claude  _ insisted _ I come with him and Ignatz.” Lysithea said.

“Well, we would’ve invited Lorenz, Leonie, Hilda, and Marianne over, But Hilda and Marianne had their own thing, Lorenz was having tea with someone, and Leonie really wanted to continue training.” Claude said.

As the four sat down and got comfortable, Claude looked at Sothis.

“And who’s the new face?”

“Oh! This is Sirius, our personal maid from Remire Village. She came to check on us and now you’ll be seeing more of her.”

“Really? She looks way too young to be a maid. How old are you?” Claude asked.

“28.” Sothis said without thinking.

“No seriously, how old are you?”

“28.”

“You should know age and appearance don’t always correlate, Claude.” Lysithea scolded.

“You don’t look very strong. I’m afraid I’ll break you if I even touch you! You should eat a lot more! And work out too!” Raphael said.

“I don’t think she’ll need muscles if she’s their maid. Wait, doesn’t that mean she could help us too?” Ignatz asked.

Beth and Byleth looked at each other.

“Uhhh… Yeah. She can help out with the class every now and then.” Beth said.

Sothis looked at her in disbelief.

“That’s great! What is it that you’ll teach?” 

“Faith and Reason.”

“Excellent! Can you teach me all you know?” Lysithea asked.

“Absolutely.”

As Sothis and Lysithea talked, Claude scooted over to the Twins.

“Well, those two snapped together quickly.” Beth said, laying back and closing her eyes once again.

“Agreed.”

“Well, you know what they say, children tend to connect easily.” Claude said smugly and loud enough for the two to hear.

“Claude!” The two yelled.

As Claude was snickering, Sothis grinned like a maniac.

“Okay, we’ll start with lesson one.”

Lysithea was confused for a second before grinning too.

“Let’s.”

“Use fear to get respect.” Sothis said, her finger lighting up with a flame.

Lysithea used a wind spell to blow the steam away and cool down the room.

Before anyone could question why, Sothis all lit the benches on fire, barely moving her hand. Everyone except for the Twins screamed and ran out of the Sauna.

Byleth facepalmed as he got up to get the water bucket.

“Why did it get hot here all of a sudden?” Beth asked, finally opening her eyes.

She saw a big orange blur. She smelled smoke and then sighed.

“You wouldn’t have happened to set the benches on fire, haven’t you?”

“Maybe.” Sothis chuckled.

* * *

“Sothis, you can’t just do that whenever you feel like it. If there wasn’t any bucket there, we would’ve had to replace it with our own money.”

“Okay, Okay. I’m sorry.” 

The three walked to the dining room to get some dinner. Once again, nobody was there. So Beth cooked dinner for the three of them. It was very quiet between the three.

"By the way, I apologise for joking about your poor eyesight earlier." Sothis said to Beth.

"It's alright. I kinda forgot about it anyways.”

"I really like those glasses though.”

“Thanks. So, should we try to confront Hanneman about the experiment he tried on us?”

“No, we shouldn’t. I don’t know how we should explain Sothis coming out of us without us being executed for false speech about her.”

“That’s true…” Beth sighed. “So, what do you think?”

“Hm?”

“Of your body. About the Monastery and actually being able to feel everything now.”

“Oh! I think it’s quite a bit early for my opinion on those things. But as of right now, it’s gonna take some getting used to.”

“Fair enough.”

Byleth looked away and saw a shadow coming towards them.

“Can I help you?” He got up and asked.

“Um, I was wondering if I can join you again?”

Bernadetta.

“Oh, absolutely! Come sit.”

As Bernadetta sat down next to Byleth, she saw Sothis.

“Ah! Who is this?”

“Don’t worry, I’m Sirius, these two’s maid. I’m so eager to meet you, Bernadetta.”

“H-how do you know my name?”

‘Shit.’ Sothis thought.

“Uh, these two told me great things about you.”

“R-really? I don’t deserve any praise.”

“Don’t say that. You do.” Byleth said.

Beth slid out of her seat to walk to the kitchen.

“Oh, you don’t have to. I already ate…”

“Ah, Okay.” Beth said, sitting back down. “So… what are you here for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I-Uh… well… I was wondering if… if…”

Bernadetta looked away.

“IwaswonderingifIcouldjoinyourclass!”

“Can we do that?” Beth asked.

“Yes, we can. If you read the manual, you would’ve known.”

“Shut Up!”

“Of course you can.” Byleth replied.

“R-really? Oh, thank you so much!”

“It’s no problem!”

“We’d love to have you.”

“So, what’s she going to do?” Bernadetta pointed towards Sothis.

“Oh, I’m an assistant. I’m there for when they need some help. Same thing applies to our class, which you’re now a part of.”

“Oh, okay…. If that’s okay, I think I’ll go now…”

“Oh, not a problem.”

“See you tomorrow!”

As Bernadetta left, the three decided it would be best to leave as well.

As they went inside, they forgot one major issue…

“Where am I going to rest?” Sothis asked.

“Y’know… I never thought that far ahead yet…” Byleth admitted.

“Oh! You can sleep with me.” Beth said.

“E-e-excuse me?” Sothis asked.

“Is that too weird?”

“You just said it nonchalantly. We’re sleeping on the same bed!”

“You don’t wanna? You could just say so.”

No, it’s not that. I apologize, I guess I must be tired.”

Byleth raised an eyebrow at the scene. He then undressed himself and laid in his bed, yawning.

“Well, whatever. Just decide on something soon…”

Beth and Sothis looked at each other.

“I… I guess I’ll sleep on the chair.” Sothis said, walking over to it.

“Oh, okay.” Beth said.

As they both switched to their sleeping clothes (Sothis just said a spell and went back to the regalia, not putting on her tiara.), they relaxed.

Or in Sothis’ case, she attempted to relax.

If Beth didn’t feel so tired, she would’ve tried to convince Sothis to share the bed.

Beth woke up from her sleep. She just felt like getting up. As she wiped the grogginess from her eyes, she put on her glasses. What she saw was beautiful.

Sothis sleeping on the desk with the moonlight, spilling from the window and onto her.

It was cute. But… Beth still felt bad about her sleeping on the desk. So Beth picked her up, carried her to her own bed, and made her comfortable. She joined in and relaxed once more, taking off her glasses. She looked at her face, wondering if she’d see any change in her expression. Not too long after, she still felt tired so she fell asleep once more.

Sothis hugged a giant pillow. Or at least felt like one. She was in a state of comfort, hugging a warm pillow on a comfy bed…

Wait… but didn’t she fall asleep on the desk?

Her eyes cracked open, now wide awake. She saw a black shirt with medium breasts taking up a majority of her eyesight. She disbanded from the hug to see Beth, still resting. She slept with her and not only that, was hugging her with her breasts in her face. She blushed at the realization. Like really hard. She could be mistaken with a tomato with a very messy, long and plentiful stem in a dress.

She looked to the side to see if Byleth was still sleeping.

He wasn’t.

He was giving Sothis a smirk that made her want to punch his face and then hide in embarrassment.

“So… is she a good pillow?”

“Shut it!!!” She said, hiding her face via blanket. Knowing how heavy of a sleeper Beth was, she knew there wasn’t any consequence for yelling.

Even though Sothis didn’t wake her up specifically, Beth just woke up on her own, yawning.

“Morning, Sothis.” She said groggily.

“You put me over here, didn’t you?!”

Beth nodded.

“What’s your reasoning?!”

“Well, you looked a little uncomfortable and I kind of felt bad. So, I… Yeah. Do you not like that?”

“Nonononono, I-I’m fine with it. Just taken back is all.”

“Oh, okay. Just know you don’t have to sleep on the desk. You can always sleep here. It’s not like we’re lovers or anything.”

“Y-Yeah! Not at all!”

"At least, not at the moment…~"

"W-what?"

"Oh, nothing."

Byleth chuckled.

"Well, if you two lovebirds are finished, can we go get something to eat? We got class in a few hours."

"YOU." Sothis said, the word drenched in poison, topped off with her twitching her eye.

"Alright. Let me just get dressed." Beth said.

Sothis was astonished. How could she act so normal? Like she didn't hear what he said… Or the thing that Sothis was more afraid of.

She didn't mind.

With the comments from earlier… did… did Beth have feelings for her?

What? Nononono. No way. She wouldn't be interested. No, she  _ shouldn't _ be interested. If they ever got together, the consequences of the two being together wouldn’t be easily ignored. How would Rhea react? Even if she didn’t figure out it was her mother, it wasn’t common for a person to get together with their maid. Plus, her body… she looked really young. That would cause some major problems too.

Don’t get her wrong, she really liked Beth. As a lover… maybe some more time to develop their relationship and she’d be fine with it.

Wait, what was she  _ thinking _ ! 

So many thoughts ran through her head, she felt like it was about to explode.

Then again, her nonchalant attitude could also be summed up as Beth just being Beth. Maybe Sothis was just thinking too hard about this… WAY too hard.

"Sothis, are you coming?" Beth asked from the door.

"Hm? Oh, yeah!" She replied.

She snapped her fingers and the regalia turned into the maid outfit.

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus. I’m not promising this, but I’ll try to update at least one of my fics every 2 to 4 weeks. It’s not a promise, but I’ll try to adhere to this.


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